Out-going Head Of Seminary Will Return To Work In Parish

The Rev. Felipe Estevez, who is leaving his post as rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, said he will miss most being part of the seminary`s growth.

``I believe this school is in a very exciting moment of growth,`` Estevez said. ``It will be hard not to be part of this growth.``

Although he was pressed to remain rector of the seminary, a major training ground for Catholic priests for the dioceses of the eastern United States, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America, Estevez will take an educational sabbatical and return to parish work, while maintaining a teaching post at the seminary.

Estevez will spend the summer in California at the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California at Berkeley, where part of his time will be spent editing a book on Felix Varela, a 19th century Catholic priest considered the father of Cuban nationalist thought.

The book will be part of the Sources of American Spirituality series, being released by Paulist Press. Estevez had done his dissertation on Varela. His work will be the first American translation of Varela`s letters.

The year 1980 was a year of firsts for the seminary. Estevez was appointed to the prestigious position of rector as the first Hispanic and first diocesan priest. It also was the first year the seminary opened its classroom doors to those not studying for the priesthood.

Although the move was done without fanfare, the number of non-seminarians studying theology at the seminary has increased, Estevez said. No more than 50 percent of the student population can be non-seminarians so that the seminary may retain its primary purpose of being a formation center for the training of priests, Estevez said. Laypersons constitute one-quarter of the student population.

``The faculty made a decision to increase the number by allowing a number of courses in the evening. It was an important decision. It was saying we are going to make a bold step in accommodating our way of life to allow you a theological education. It was a symbolic gesture of saying, gee, we`ll upset ourselves so that you may come in.

``It`s had positive results with the quality of lay students that have broadly enriched the classroom and given a model of perspective to the seminarian. Most parishes at present and in the future are led by a collaborate effort of priests and laity. On the other hand, we have to be careful not to minimize the formation of priests.``

Estevez, whose recent trip to a Catholic conference in Cuba sparked controversy in the Cuban community, said he is proud of the role he has played in regionalizing the seminary, attempting to retain alumni with teaching skills at the seminary for the faculty, and in building the Hispanic program. Currently, 45 percent of the seminarians are Hispanic.

Estevez said he decided to move on because ``deep down I have a missionary sense. I believe the role of ministry is to empower others. A missionary trains a group, enables the group and moves on.``